Archive for 2018
The 20 Best Australian Songs of 2018
When I first came across this new single by Ryan Fennis, I was listening blind. I didn’t know what was coming through my headphones was but it was immediately something special. My good friend and also person who I harass horribly at work Rhosian once told me that rainbow Paddlepops are actually just caramel paddlepops with a whole bunch of colouring in them and while that may be true, I maintain that on a blind taste-test, i can witness the rainbow. So too with this song, immediately I knew this was rainbow rather than caramel, whatever the artist might be called and wherever they might be from. This song swirls with colour sounding both bedroom produced and professionally made. It’s that “is this a demo? but why doesn’t it also sound so good?” idea that Jai Paul skilled-up in his released-but-actually-leaked-but-actually-released LP (hit me up if you want those mp3s, for real).
The strength of this record seems to be that Ryan Fennis can really play. Evidentially a ruthless guitarist, he also seems to be have production chops beyond his years (I don’t know his age but I’d wager he’s overperforming). He has a woozy, hypnotic vocal and a way of singing that almost sounds like he articulates on the inhale rather than the exhale which offers this really weird, breathy quality. Looks as if he’s been putting in mileage around Canberra these past few years but the other states haven’t yet connected the dots. Perhaps that’s what 2019 is all about for Ryan Fennis, feels like he’s just about ready.
Danny Barwick has been on my radar for a hot minute. One quarter of his 2017 Distance EP was a song called ‘Flickering’, good enough that I included it in my 2017 Unearthed Staff Picks and juiced it for months afterwards. It had all the elements that I’ve come to understand as part of Danny Barwick’s brilliance. Fizzing synths, his (sorta) deep voice and most notably, perfect piano lines. Every song is built around a gorgeous key section in such a way that I’m a whole bunch of certain that his writing process surely starts with just mister Barwick at a piano. Don’t misunderstand me here, Danny’s records might have some beautiful elements but so often they’re just outright sinister. The production on this newest single ‘Milkolka’ is more threatening than that letter from Allianz I received when I forgot to finalize a third part insurance claim, strings demented and mishapen, synths stabbing wildly like prison shanks in the dark. Seriously though, you gotta make sure you submit the claim or else you will get a sinister letter with the heading ‘Intention To Sue’.
‘Milkolka’ is the first taste from his next EP releasing by the name ‘Tigers’ which I expect we’ll get to hear in 2019.
So I’ll tell you what my mum has been telling me for at least two decades: You need to pay more attention to HAIRCARE. I’m gonna edge out on a limb here and suggest that you probably haven’t listened to this band before today and if you have, well colour me impressed and proud. Today they received the Sound Doc seal of approval which industry estimates have valued at anywhere between 6-11 Spotify streams. This is only single two for HAIRCARE so we’re not kilometers deep into a storied career.
I was put across this Perth four piece yesterday morning having been told that they’d made fans out of some of Perth’s musical top tier and I’ve not stopped listening to their newest single since. ‘Blinding Cordoned States’ is full of lo-fi synths, tender guitar parts and a vocal from old mate that hits you with all the urgency of The Walkmen. The chorus pops like an overinflated balloon and I quite simply haven’t been able to sit down since the first time I heard it. This is actually really bad and I urgently need someone to send help, my legs are be fixed in a literal state of living rigor mortis. You’re not hearing me, please stop reading this and send a doctor I’m in an incredible amount of pain.
Harrison Rae lives in Sydney having moved here from Boambee (up near Coffs way) and as a special dowry gift to the city of Sydney he bears this moody dee n bee signalling ambiater. It pans across your dome in its quiter moments, slices with percussive scissors and then merges the two together artfully. From how I understand it, the move to Sydney has guided his music into more frenetic realms just as he’ll do for your good self if you’d kindly hit play below.
It’s released through his own label Club Moss, launched just this very year but if you’d like more, he has a slightly less angular seven tracker in the form of Vitamin B.
Artists you need to know rn
| 1. 1300 |  |
316 |
| 2. Voidhood | |
259 | 3. jamesjamesjames | |
186 | 4. Zan | |
174 |
| 5. Sesame Girl | |
147 |
